Warm Evenings
by halcyons
Summary: A snowy night in Kyoto rewards Chizuru with a surprising, yet playful encounter. Oneshot.


**Warm Evenings**

It was on a typical night like this where Chizuru felt the most relaxed. She was drinking a warm cup of tea while bathing in the chilly air of Kyoto winters. Two months have passed since her arrival at the Shinsengumi headquarters, searching for her father obtained no progress. The captains were sometimes nice towards her, but she could not help but feel some of their bitter resentment towards the messy situation. She sighed and took another sip of her tea, wondering if the war would ever come to an end.

She heard a flicker of movement behind the door frame. She was after all, sitting outside by herself._ Aren't Hijikata-san and the others out on patrol? S_he thought.

"Hmm? You'll catch a cold if you daydream too long." the teasing voice revealed itself, catching the slight opening of the doorframe. His tousled brown hair lazily draped over the sides, emerald slits eyeing the small figure in front of him. Chizuru gave a small smile, "Okita-san, I'm just taking a break after dinner."

He propped himself beside her on the raised wooden floorboards, staring into the open courtyard as soft snowflakes covered Sakura trees. Chizuru lightly thumbed over her cup, slightly nervous of the close proximity between them. She raised her head only to meet with his face curiously observing her as if she was a cat.

He inched his face closer, tilting his face as he stared at her. She was taken by surprise and abruptly moved back, almost hitting the wooden beam behind her. She felt a bare warmth spreading across her face, unaware of what he was trying to do. "Chizuru-chan," Okita smirked, "Your cheeks are getting more red than usual in the middle of winter." He mused softly.

"N-No it's nothing!" She waved her hands in front of him and ducked her head, a bit embarrassed. Okita was clearly amused by her reaction, but also knew that he was to blame for the playfulness. Chizuru seemed to have recovered from the event. She relaxed her arms as she gave a loud sigh.

"Hmm, you don't need to be so scared of me," Okita chuckled and laid his right arm over his raised knee. Chizuru was unsure of how to answer him. Recent of events of having to hide from the other soldiers, being kept in her room all day and pretending to be a boy weren't exactly confidence points that dictated she would ever be useful. She wondered if he felt the same irritation towards her. A saddened look passed over her face,

"It's just hard when I'm kept inside all day, I don't think Hijikata-san likes me being here."

Okita laughed, almost musical in a way. "He's just mean when he wants to be, although it's not like I'll ever stop teasing him." he flicked his tongue out and grinned. "And as for going outside, you should test Saito and we'll think about it. We're just trying to keep you safe." Chizuru was just about to protest when she felt a hand rest of top of her head and started ruffling her hair. Okita inched his face closer to Chizuru, taking notice of her widened brown eyes and rose tinted cheeks. She could feel his breath on her face." I said it'll be _fine, _you don't need to worry about all the fighting stuff okay? I might end up putting you in my room so you'll be quiet." he joked, tousling her hair even more. Chizuru was already on the verge of falling off the wooden platform by a centimeter. She scrambled under him clumsily and pulled herself up.

"U-um thank you for the advice Okita-san!" she picked up the tea cup and tightly held it with her fingers. Okita smirked from where he sat, knowing that his teasing only made the girl squirm even more. "You won't accompany me? What a waste, to think that I dragged myself all the way here just to see you."

"N-no that's not it, I just have to get back to my room it's getting late." she quickly turned her head to fidget with the door, sliding it open and stepping into the bright room. As she was about to walk back, she heard his voice calling out to her.

"You can call me Soji, you're not a soldier now are you?" he chuckled to himself, looking above as if to capture the wonderful, yet snow-filled evening.

* * *

Hello :3 This is my first fanfiction story. Hopefully it's not too horrible _sobs._  
I recently started playing hakuouki and it's such a good game (hot bishies everywhere XD)


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